Monthly Archives: August 2008

Off Grid or Green Toilets – Part 2 Incinerating

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In this second part of the 3 part series, there is another option for the disposal of waste.  Incinerating toilets burn everything, leaving minimal or no ashes and what remains is clean.  Ecojohn and Incinolet are two of the better known makers.

The essentials of operation are the use of a paper liner in the bowl and when “flushed” — or more accurately activated, the waste and liner drop into an incinerating chamber where it is heated to amazing temperatures reducing the waste to ash.

While some require 110- 120 vAC or 240 vAC. other models rely on propane for the heat source and use 12 vDC to power the fan.

Either way, unlike the composting toilet, which may need a emergency drain for liquids, the incinerating toilets do not, however, the energy cost is higher for a flush of urine only.

A final consideration with either of these alternative toilets is guest eduation.  While it may be a curiosity. it is helpful to have a sign or note to explain to guest how to use your toilet.

Pheasants (“Take two, people”)

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I know many people anxiously awaited the email this week.  No, not the one about Obama’s running mate, the other email  The one about the pheasants.

One of the new projects this year was to raise and release pheasants into the habitat on the ranch.  The first pheasants arrived the week of June 12, and were well on their way to a release date sometime in October.  When they were put out into the fly pen — a 25 x 45 foot enclosed netted pen with top and side netting — 32 of the original 52 were still alive.  Over the next few days, a predator snuck into the confines and ended up killing most of the birds.  Although the hatchery suspects a mink, its just as likley it was a raccoon or a few raccoons.

So in my son Noah’s words, “Take two people”, 52 more chicks were shipped from the hatchery and arrived at the end of July, and this weekend, I moved their brooder into the fly pen, and have done a series of staged releases.  15 were released Sunday, and 15 more today.  Assuming no predators attack tonight, I’ll release the final birds into the fly pen tomorrow, and then they grow for another 10 – 11 weeks before being released to the fields on the ranch.

With any luck, they will be safe under the watchful eyes of Steve, the watch rabbit.

Living Small Goes to Graduate School

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Leave it to a Yale grad student to capture the imagination of the media and bloggers everywhere about living small. US News ran the news item in one of their blogs, and the Virginia Gazette picked up the photos here

It’s blogged here at Jetson Green, and even moleskinerie.com.  Elizabeth Turnbull’s reported $11,000,  144 square foot (plus loft) tiny house has about 12,600 hits on Google’s search engine when searching +tiny +house +student +turnbull.

According to the Hartford Courant

Exactly where she will place the Tiny House in New Haven is not determined, but Turnbull is talking with the city and the university about suitable sites. Turnbull said she is optimistic she’ll find a spot that is safe and convenient.

The takeaway for HobbyFarmLiving is it is possible to have safe, green, sustainable shelter on your beginning or existing property.

Off Grid or Green Toilets – Part 1 Composting

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A composting toilet is not an outhouse.

In a traditional outhouse — either in open ground hold or a concrete holding vault or tank, the waste collects and over time, turns septic.  Much of what contributes to odor is the waste being wet, and as a result, many people dislike outhouses.  There are great outhouse designs (see part 3 of this series) which eliminate the odor.

A composting toilet, typically separates liquid from solid waste, and layers the waste with wood chavings or peat or a combination, and through heat and natural bacterial, composts the waste into a compost fertilizer wich can be used on ornamental plants and flowers, not for human consumption.

Composting toilets, Sun Mar is one of the leading brands, are idea for both on and off grid locations in that they can operate with either 120 vAC or 12vDC.  I’ve used my Sun Mar Composting toilet since I moved onto Two Mile Ranch and have been pleased with the results.  I have rarely had an odor, and when I did, it was not more than any bathroom after use.  I have had a couple of the typical issues described in the manual (namely some slow drainage of liquids in humid months and a small fly infestation.  The liquids problem resolved easily with the addition of dish soap to break a film of grease on the surface, and the small flies were killed with pesticide.  The flies do not live — according to the literature — in the compost material, but do live in the composting toilet and once killed off, have been under control.

Like venting a chimney, it is important to vent a composting toilet high enough above your roof line.  There are users who report an odor while outside, but likley this is the result of down drafts or other drafting issues related to the exhaust of the composting toilet.

One of the best sites explaining the advantaged of composting toilets is The Natural Home Building Source ( http://www.thenaturalhome.com ).  Located in Colorado, the company offers a Website with dozens of detailed pages to help guide your choice of composting toilets and provides significant pre and post sale help.

Off Grid or Green Toilets – Basics of Septic

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Even though every person and animal on the planet creates waste, it is an awkward silence that typically follows the beginning of a discussion about toilets, outhouses, and alternative toilets.  In certain public health circles, its every day chatter, but for most of the western world, toilets and their use are not part of regular conversation.

But in any rural living, where connecting to a government or community sewer system is not possible, consideration has to be made for dealing with human waste.

To begin to understand dealing with human waste, let’s look at the two kinds of waste water coming from a typical home.  Waste that comes from a toilet is typically called black water.  it is contaminated with bacteria and usually drains from the toilet.

Waste which comes form a kitchen sink, or shower, or dishwasher or washing machine is typically grey water.  It may have some contaminants, but mostly has some particles and soaps.  In most homes, the gray and the black water are mixed and then dealt with all as black water.  Some states even define any liquid leaving a home as “black water”.

Most recently, the traditional system for disposing of these waste is a septic tank system.  A  septic system — simplified – consists of a holding tank or two, and the a leech field.  The holding tank is buried under ground in most situations, and holds the mixture of solids and liquids leaving a home.

After the liquid sits in the tank for a period, the solids sink to the bottom or float to the top, and the middle liquid is them passed out to a series of drains called a leech field, where the water is passed through surface soil and is cleaned of harmful bacteria.  Every so often, depending on use and size of the tank, the solids or sludge is pupped out of the holding tank and disposal in a waste water treatment facility via a community sewer system.

Septic systems are sized based on the number of gallons in a holding tank — sometimes the tank has two compartments to aid the settling of the solids.  A typical 2 – 3 bedroom house might use a 1000 gallon tank.

The size of the leech field — where the water drains, is determined by size of property and the findings of a soil test often done by a qualified engineer or other expert. This can quickly add several $1000 of dollars to the cost of a home, and in some remote locations, due to geology or other concerns, it may not be possible to use this kind of waste system.

In this series of articles, we’ll explore three alternatives to septic:  composting toilets, incineating toilets, and outhouses.  You may be surprized to read that “what we’ve always done” isn’t necessarily what is best for your farm or you lifestyle.  And the alternatives may be more sustainable.

Steve! the watch rabbit

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There was a television show about a popular neighborhood bar called “Cheers” and one of the characters was named “Norm.”  And when ever Norm would enter the bar, he would say Hi, everybody”, and the entire bar would yell “Norm!”

Earlier this spring, a very small and skinny rabbit was around he cabin and Noah said “I’m going to name him Steve.”

“Steve”, as it turns out, decided to be a quasi mascot and pet, each morning he would greet me near the car, and many times, would hop down the driveway in front of me before darting into the tall grass.  He’s made a burrow in the barn, and –much to his credit and salvation — has not eaten the garden.  Most days, he can be found near the pheasant fly pen.  One of these days, I’ll update this post to include a photo.

By habit, when I see him, I yell out “Steve” like the folks in the bar in Cheers did for Norm.  This seems to have rubbed on my others, as “Steve” has become the mascot of the ranch.

If he could only defend the phesants against preators, I’d plant him his own garden.

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